By Hara Marano
Hara Marano, editor-at-large and the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today, has been watching a disturbing trend: kids are growing up to be wimps. They can’t make their own decisions, cope with anxiety, or handle difficult emotions without going off the deep end. Teens lack leadership skills. College students engage in deadly binge drinking. Graduates can’t even negotiate their own salaries without bringing mom or dad in for a consult. Why? Because hothouse parents raise teacup children—brittle and breakable, instead of strong and resilient. This crisis threatens to destroy the fabric of our society, to undermine both our democracy and economy. Without future leaders or daring innovators, where will we go? So what can be done?
What is going on?
Groundbreaking books by Let Grow’s thought leaders and others are changing the way America thinks about, educates and raises its kids. They all make the case that today’s kids are safer, smarter and stronger than the culture gives them credit for — and that more independence is crucial, not crazy.